Renier

So, I'm thinking about buying an engine stand and putting my spare 2.8L on there and hone up the cylinders, tune it a bit and etc. and basically make that old junkyard block into something good, something you might even be able to call modern. As in, do a little of this and a little of that when the time and the money is available all the while still keeping my other junk 2.8L in my car to keep it driveable.

Since the fact of the matter is that my current engine is a piece of *&%$, it gets decent MPG but aside from that it doesn't offer any performance whatsoever and it's leaking all over the place. I know that these engines are tough and hard to break, but that's pretty much the only thing that still has me hold some faith whatsoever in it, otherwise I wouldn't trust it one little bit.

An alternative to that would be to put my time and my money in an old big block instead, and sort of unlock the full potential of the Camaro in a sense, since there's so much space under the hood and these cars are supposed to have V8's anyways. Grab a junkyard bigblock and tune it into something great. So much more power so easily, but at the cost of having to modify much more and the stock rear end probably not going to be able to handle it if you go full throttle or such without being very careful, if even at all.

My transmission is hardly worth the price of it's weight in scrap metal either though if you ask me, they seemingly already swapped it once since the original one broke or something (I don't know but I have reasons to suspect it's not the original transmission), so it wouldn't be a waste to get a nice more modern one to combo with the big block or the tuned 2.8L.

All in all I just don't know if the 2.8L is worth it compared to looking to score a big block somewhere, or even a regular V8, I have no experience whether big blocks totally mess up the handling yes or no or if this is easily overcome by modding the suspension to deal with it. Because I do intend on having a car that can do the twisties rather well, one of the reasons I love the Third Gen's so much after all.

1gary

We "could" spend the next yr into talking about "cost/benefits". There is 0 doubt in my mind that a BBC with it's broad torque band and a properly tuned suspension will out corner any 2.8 even with the extra wt of a BBC.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

The 2.8 is arguably one of the worst possible motors for any kind of "performance" application. It is fragile, extremely prone to leak, and weak. Contrary to being "tough and hard to break", even in stock trim, it is known for breaking crankshafts and various other catastrophic failures. Even the later versions of the same platform (3.1 etc.) are better, although still relics of the same obsolete design. Putting a turbo on any of those is a recipe for an expensive lawn ornament and some shrapnel.

A big block will "fit" into one of these cars, but it's not a trivial matter.

Probably the best all-around swap for your stated goals would be a LSx swap. I have no idea what's "commonplace" on your side of the pond, as far as junk American vehicles; but a 5.3 out of a 2000-up Chevy/GMC truck would probably be the most likely suitable candidate. Get the transmission that comes with it (4L60E) and then all you need is the extension housing to fit the F-body torque arm. It's as easy a swap as it's going to get, with HUGE potential for performance. And, good gas mileage besides; probably better than that 6-cyl.

willexoIX

If you are talking about the carbed 2.8 I agree. If you are talking about the 86+ MPFI 2.8 I strongly disagree. In 86 they beefed up the crankshaft along with other changes to the block and I have yet to hear of one of those breaking a crank. I have an unrebuilt 2.8 in my 300,000 mile 89 RS that I bought with 180,000 miles on it. I beat on it for 100,000 miles and took care of it at the same time. Constantly bringing it to 6800+ rpms for long periods of time(even though it has no useable power up there) in 3rd. I do not condone doing that, but mine has held up just fine. Trans is all original with no upgrades or shift kit or rebuild. I recently installed a turbo and Megasquirt too. Its holding up just fine, even when my little T3 hair dryer spiked boost to almost 20psi without even realizing it. Did I mention the engine never had a rebuild? This car is also my daily driver, and I am not the first to boost the 2.8 with success. In fact, I haven't heard of someone breaking a 2.8 unless it was their fault, not the motors.

However, if its carbed, toss it, it has a weak crank. I am also not saying its better than a V8, displacement is key, nor am I against a V8 swap. Its your car and decision. I personally wanted to be different, I could have swapped the 455 I have just sitting there, but I instead turboed my V6, and I love every minute of it. It puts a smile on my face from ear to ear when it gets into boost.

Mine is a daily driver(I know, I said that already) not a racecar, so that helped in my decision to turbo the 2.8. I also didn't want the fastest car on the street either, because someone will always be faster. Instead, I did something to keep me happy for years to come. And the next upgrade is to put a T4 coldside on my T3, when I get tired of the hair dryer.

OP, have you taken a look at the build threads in the V6 board? I would just to see what us V6ers do to these cars, there are a couple pretty quick cars over there. Mars just recently broke the 10's with a 10.56, with a full 3900 v6 turbo build only running 15PSI, its pretty sweet.

Me personally, I would ditch the 2.8, grab a 3.4 block, and build a 3.4/3500 hybrid and slap a turbo on. Thats my next goal. Then take the turbo 2.8 and put it in an s10 as a beater truck.

Build what your heart desires, and what you think would be fun and you'll be happy.